Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies

About us

About us

The Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies was founded in 1988. It is unique in Britain in its range of subjects and chronological span. Close relations with the Centre for Hellenic Studies also provide a combination of Eastern and Western Medieval Studies without parallel nationally and internationally.

King’s College London has a long tradition of supporting Medieval Studies, and has been home for some of this country’s leading medievalists. Today, the Centre includes experts in a rich array of fields: late antique and Byzantine studies, all the major medieval languages and literatures, visual culture, palaeography and manuscript studies, history, music, philosophy, and theology.

Research

The intellectual vitality of contemporary Medieval Studies is fully reflected in the diversity of the theoretical and methodological approaches practised by King’s medievalists, for whom the Centre provides a space and catalyst for the critical exchange of ideas.

Scholars from the Centre have also been at the forefront of innovative projects based in History, French, and King’s College London’s internationally renowned Department of Digital Humanities.

The Centre also sponsors events that deal with a long-standing interest in contemporary articulations of the medieval, often drawing on modern film and poetry, such as the recent successful showing of Derek Jarman’s Edward II which reconsidered the film in the context of current debates around queer history and LGBT rights and included a roundtable featuring human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

Events

At the heart of the Centre’s activities is the annual lecture series, which brings outstanding scholars from this country and abroad to King’s. We also sponsor interdisciplinary research colloquia and large-scale international conferences, as well as research study days and postgraduate conferences, such as the recently held Inaugural conference of the London Medieval Graduate Network, ‘In the Beginning’. 2013 saw the 25th Anniversary of the Centre’s founding – a milestone which was marked by an end of year conference with the theme of “Students, Intellectuals and the Medieval University”, which took place in May 2013.

Publication series – KCLMS

The Centre has its own publicaion series – ‘King’s College London Medieval Studies’ (KCLMS) – which has covered subjects as diverse as the study of Greek in the West during the early Middle Ages, Ælfric’s theology, the interplay of culture in medieval Spain, and Chaucer’s influence in fifteenth-century poetry. We continue to welcome proposals for monographs, collected essays, translations and editions, and we have a subvention fund for former students and authors affiliated with King’s.

The Centre is proud to sponsor several informal reading groups (the Medieval Reading Group, the Old English Translation Group and Medieval Film Club, and the Medieval & Early Modern Iberian Research Group), where staff and students from King’s and elsewhere meet to exchange ideas on latest developments in the field.